Looking back at where the NFL has hosted Super Bowls during the past decade, the majority were in cities where the team had built a new stadium — Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, Dallas — to name a few.
While the Fiesta Bowl is played every year in the Valley, it is regularly part of the College Football Playoff including this upcoming game on New Year's Eve. What's more, NASCAR has chosen Phoenix Raceway in Avondale for its Championship Weekend for four years in a row and in October the PGA Tour announced that it will be elevating the 2023 WM Phoenix Open — more than doubling the prize money and requiring the best players on the tour to participate in the event.
“It’s no surprise that the NFL or CFP continue to bring their signature games to the Valley because we are the premier destination for great weather, unparalleled hospitality and endless recreation and dining options,” said Ray Artigue, the former executive director of the MBA Sports Business Program at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
On top of all that, the Phoenix area has significantly updated its infrastructure — even since the 2015 Super Bowl. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has built a new terminal and updated and expanded its other one and added a whole new rental car facility. The Valley has also seen light rail expanded and new freeways added — making Phoenix easier to get around.
“It's the activities that people can do when they're here. They go to the game, but that's not all they do,” Johnson said. “They get to go golfing, they get to go hiking, they travel up to the Grand Canyon, they can go to Sedona. I think that's the beauty of Arizona and it is the diversity that we have for activities and places to go and things to see.”Still, Phoenix and the Valley has had all these tourism destinations and activities for decades.